All Posts by jerry hildenbrand

It's Monday, and that means it's time to kick off this week's Android Central photo contest. This time around, we're looking for your best macro-photography shots. Grab something small and cool looking, grab your Android phone, and snap a picture! The prize this week is a blind box Android mini collectable, and we're looking to give five of them away to the best close-up shots. The blind box...

NVIDIA and ZTE have officially unveiled the ZTE Mimosa X, the first phone with a Tegra2 processor and Icera modem. NVIDIA acquired Icera in mid-2011, and we've been expecting an offering from someone with the full set of NVIDIA innards, and today we finally get to see one, or at least a picture. If you refer to an old Tegra roadmap, you'll notice that Tegra and Icera devices weren't scheduled to...

Google may be developing a voice activated remote for Google TV devices, if we're to believe the rumors around the Internet today. Last year Google filed for a patent with the USPTO for a new remote and/or Android application that uses Google's cloud assisted voice recognition technology to navigate through the menus on your Google TV. Of course, everyone is comparing it to Siri, but Google has...

The folks over at GTV Hacker have released a root exploit for Sony Google TVs. The NSZ-GT1 Eagle (that's the Blu-ray player) and the Asura stand alone TVs can use this method, requiring only some software modifications and a little wizardry with the remote -- no soldering or other hardware modification is needed. Devices running the latest 3.2 Honeycomb firmware are required, and the detailed...

I'm turning into a Google TV junkie. I freely admit it, have no shame in saying it, and am having a ton of fun while it happens. I thought things couldn't get better, until I stumbled across Able Remote in the Android Market. It's a simple concept, and one we've seen before direct from Google -- use your Android smartphone as a remote to control your Google TV. Where the official Google TV...

The winner of this weeks Android Central photo contest is Andrew Hammer. He gives us this lovely picture of a butterfly, taken with his T-Mobile Galaxy S II. It's a stunner, and fits in perfectly with the animal theme we asked for last week. It's hard to believe pictures this great can come from our Android phones. Thanks for entering everyone, and Andrew, check your inbox for details about...

We've seen a couple new Ice Cream Sandwich builds leaked out for the Sprint Epic 4G Touch, and that makes us happy. It means someone is hard at work making this happen, nobody has forgotten about these great phones, and eventually ICS will show up for everyone that has one. But it's also easy to see why it's not there yet.
We love seeing leaks, and we try them, too. It's a fun part of Android...

LG has made the Optimus Vu official, announcing the 5-inch phone on their Korean Newsroom site early this AM. Running Gingerbread (Android 2.3) and packing a 5.0-inch display with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a specialized stylus, the size alone makes this one a force to reckon with.
The full list of specs according to LG:
139.6 x 90.4 x 8.5mm
Weight: 168g
5-inch IPS 650 nit display at ...

It won't officially be released until February 19, but the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy Note has already had a rooted kernel built for it. The kernel also has init.d support so custom scripts can be run during the boot cycle, and is set-up for root access over adb as well. If that reads like Greek to you, just know that it's all good stuff and needed for custom ROMs and other hacks...

Update: Because so many people are just starting to get the update (thanks for the e-mails, everybody!), we're going to bump this post -- something we try to avoid doing for obvious reasons.
Original from Feb. 6: If you're the proud owner of a Motorola Droid RAZR, or it's brother with a bit bigger gas tank the Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX, (read the review of the MAXX right here) there's an OTA...

Since we started doing our polls each weeknight, the most popular requested subject from you guys was about root. People want to know who is rooting their phones, and why they're doing it. It's a choice everyone should consider before making, as these little (and not so little) pieces of glass and plastic can get pretty darned expensive to replace. Futzing around with the software can be a...

*UPDATED* - The folks from CrackBerry reached out to RIM for further clairifcation on this matter and this is what they found. "Ads will work inside the Android apps the only thing however that is not supported is RIM's own BlackBerry Ad services. In other words, Android developers can still monetize their apps, just not using BlackBerry Ad services."
A bit of news about Android applications on...

A few hours ago we brought you news about an update in the works for the Motorola Droid X, and now Verizon has posted the change log to tell us just what the update entails. It's not a version bump, but nobody really expected Ice Cream Sandwich (officially) for this one. On the plus side, the Droid X should be at the top of it's game with all the tweaks included in build 4.5.621.MB810...

Remember that controversial Motorola Droid 4 root method we talked about last week? You might have skimmed over the part where the method was presumed to work on just about any Motorola device, but it seems to be true -- the Motorola Droid XYBOARD (both versions) have been rooted using the method.
There's not a lot to actually do with your XYBOARD that needs root just yet, but we're sure all...

SwiftKey, the Android keyboard replacement that can just about read minds, has passed a pretty significant milestone -- 5,000,000 downloads. Just as impressive, over 1,000,000 users have personalized their install using SwiftKey's service to scan your mail and social media posts to learn how you type. The folks at TouchType aren't just awesome developers though, they like to share the good...

There are lots of ways share information between your Android smartphone and a device like a smart TV or computer, but the folks at Clik have just made it easier than ever. They're the same people behind Kik messenger, and their new Clik Smart TV Platform launching today shows the same style of innovation and attention to detail we've come to know from them. It's a software platform for folks...

And how we, the users, still need to take responsibility
There's been a lot of news lately about a lapse in either security or judgment -- both, really -- at Apple that allows iOS applications to borrow your contact data and send it off to parts unknown without your consent. Apple has addressed the issue to members of the U.S. Congress, and will take steps to hold tighter control in a future...

We saw a good look at the latest high-end phone with a physical keyboard today in the Droid 4 review. The keyboard looks pretty damn good, and Phil seems impressed with it. Those of us who like seeing a good set of keys attached to our phones are glad to see they aren't gone. You guessed it -- I like a physical keyboard. I've learned to manage the on-screen keyboard, and dabble with Voice...

HTC has turned on the Wayback Machine and is now offering a bootloader unlock solution for the Droid Eris, the HTC Hero, the HTC Legend, and the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and 4G flavors. It's a move that surprises most of us, as we never expected HTC to go back that far in their device lineup to do the right thing. Most of us have moved past these devices, but I can't be the only one who wants to...

Former eBay CEO, 2010 California gubernatorial candidate and current president and CEO of Hewlett Packard Meg Whitman took the stage at HP's Global Partner Conference in Las Vegas today. She had some reassuring things to say about webOS and its open-source future, saying HP is committed and that we should expect it to take some time (2 to 5 years worth) to fully play out what impact this will...

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